Photo's from a small plane (Page 3): Wash the windows before take off.

MagicFad Loc: Clermont, FL

butchsphoto wrote:

I have a chance to take photo's from a small plane. Any advice for an amateur. I shoot Canon and have a good variety of lenses. I will be shooting mostly businesses in home town. some as large as 30 acres.

Wash the windows before take off.

Georgia Peddler Loc: Brunswick, GA

djtravels wrote:

How small is the plane? Don't plan on changing lenses in any situation. A good zoom with some wide angle capability will do you just fine. You might need to apply some negative exposure compensation because of the large amount of sky that might creep into some of your shots. Have fun. DJT

As an old aerial shooter - ask the pilot if you can remove the screw holding the window restraint bar before takeoff. It will affect nothing, but will permit you to let the window open all the way up and stay up in flight. When you land, just replace the screw and all is OK. The window will still open and close as normal but will allow the window to go all the way up and stay there. Also, have the pilot "crab" slightly and you can get a better shot without having the front cowling and/or prop in the shot.
Have fun

tk Loc: Iowa

Add wrote:

Follow that open window advise.If a closed window you will get vibration from the plane when you contact the window to get rid of reflections.

Keep the strap around your neck. If you can open the window do. If not take shots on the opposite side from the sun, obviously and don't touch the plane due to vibration. I've taken some that I like but I don't feel a lot of them are extremely crisp. Good luck, and have fun.

Pilot

Before opening the window ask the pilot to slow the aircraft down (slow flight). If the window stop has been removed the slipstream will cause the window to remain fully open thereby making shooting much easier. When finished shooting close the window before going back to cruise speed.

preciousmetalairracing Loc: Reno, Nv

Several years ago I got the opportunity to do an air to air photo shoot. Our plane had no door making for great time. I was "hanging" out the door even tho I was belted in and someone was hanging onto me. I got soooo involved with taking photos that I didn't realize the lens became seperated from the camera. That was corrected VERY quickly and I could see the pilot in the other plane was laughing his head off. The BIG question was,, how do you explain to the coroner that the cause of death of someone on the ground was from a falling camera lens..

Pilot

The real question is, how would you explain it to the Federal Aviation Agency?

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

MT Shooter wrote:

Keep in mind you will NOT be close! FAA regulations require a 300 foot elevation minimum, and 500 foot minimum over structures. I use a 28-300mm zoom to do farm and ranch aerials, I have not done any over a town though.

8-) 8-) 8-) MT, the FAA requires minimum altitudes over populated areas. I have lots of photos taken from below 300', and I did not violate any FAR's. Heck, i've seen some traffic patterns that couldn't meet 300' minimums. I knew a few pilots in Texas that only exceeded 300' on the way to church. Airplanes and cameras, life ain't too bad ... :lol: :lol: :lol:

bobwood Loc: Fort Dodge, Iowa

Dramamine? Have fun.

IBSteve Loc: Kauai

I took a flight tour recently, and was advised to wear a dark colored shirt. The reason: shooting through a window, light colored clothing may reflect off the interior of the window and show up in you pictures!

KotaKrome

crimesc324 wrote:

Nothing worse for a camera than a freefall of hundreds of feet.

'cept a photographer free falling hundreds of feet!

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

butchsphoto wrote:

I have a chance to take photo's from a small plane. Any advice for an amateur. I shoot Canon and have a good variety of lenses. I will be shooting mostly businesses in home town. some as large as 30 acres.

If the sky is bright and if it gets into the photo, it could cause some underexposure.

If the door(s) are removed, be SURE the seat belt buckle is secured with duct tape to prevent it from opening if it gets bumped.

If the plane doesn't have headphones, work out some hand signals before takeoff.

If your lenses have a "sweet spot" as far as aperture is concerned, USE IT. There is no need to go wild with an extremely small aperture because DOF should not be a problem.

EXPOSURE: Bracket----Bracket----Bracket----Bracket!
But follow the previous advice here and keep a fast shutter speed.

Burton

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

davidrb wrote:

8-) 8-) 8-) MT, the FAA requires minimum altitudes over populated areas. I have lots of photos taken from below 300', and I did not violate any FAR's. Heck, i've seen some traffic patterns that couldn't meet 300' minimums. I knew a few pilots in Texas that only exceeded 300' on the way to church. Airplanes and cameras, life ain't too bad ... :lol: :lol: :lol:

These numbers are wrong! See Federal Aviation Regulations Part 91.119 paragraphs a,b & c. See my earlier entry above for the correct numbers. The photographer will not get in trouble - the pilot will and the FAA and judge take violations very seriously. The situation is dangerous for both aircraft occupants and for persons and property on the surface. The latter are NOT voluntarily at risk, and the pilot will NOT get a pass if someone reads the numbers on the side of the plane and reports them.

Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

If you are contemplating air-to-air photography you should only do it if both pilots are experienced and formally trained in formation flying. Such sessions require a detailed meeting and briefing as well. Ad hoc air-to-air photo sessions are a recipe for disaster.

raymondh Loc: Walker, MI

I was just up for the 1st time a week ago (Cessna 172) & learned a lot of what NOT to do.
My pilot (brother) said the window would open up against the wing so I would not have to shoot thru glass. It didn't and I can tell you that there is almost no room in the front seat to turn to the window.
Next time it will be the back seat for me.
I was using a 7d & a Mark III. My lens were 24-70, 70-210, and a Tokina 11-16 ( worked good for interior shots).
The 24-70 worked the best ( couldn't swing the long lens around to square up to the window.)
I'm guessing we were somewhere between 800 & 2000 feet for most of the time. We were up for an hour, late afternoon but it was very hazy, a total photographic bust. Here's a few samples to give you some idea of your working distance.

7D,70-210 @ 185mm (15 miles out)

5D,11-16

5D,11-16 @ 16mm

5D,24-70 @25mm

5D,24-70 @ 70mm

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

raymondh wrote:

I was just up for the 1st time a week ago (Cessna ... (show quote)

8-) 8-) 8-) Sounds as though you had a great time! Most people are overcome with anticipation and get so excited (on their first "photo" flight) that they miss some of the action and some of the fun. I saw it happen when I first started flying. Some of my classmates would take cameras with them and try to photograph what we were doing. Turns out that aerial photography is much more difficult than it appears to be. I have looked at T&S lenses and they can not compete with the cameras needed for in-flight. Using a P&S is probably the easiest and simplest way to go. Your photos show you had fun doing what you did. You are a lucky man, and you shared some neat photos. Thanx! :lol: :lol: :lol: